Castle Aching

[Edwardian]

18 minutes ago, Nearholmer said:

Please Sir, can we have a plan of the room Sir.

 

 

 

Over the weekend, anything is possible.

[Hroth]

It appears to be something like this....

 

 

Breath in......

 

Hat'n'coat'n'tipetoe around the corner

Edited May 22, 2020 by Hroth

[Malcolm 0-6-0]

It is probably not necessary to point this out, but I will anyway. As I've discovered as I get older any access to anything that requires bending to do so has become pretty much too painful to contemplate. So a panel that lifts is far preferable to one that doesn't. Oh and the other thing is don't drop anything, you might as well give it up as lost.  

[Donw]

I think something is doable there.  I would probably arange some kind of not too deep book case along the bare wall with the track running along the top. The door end would be cut off at about 45deg. and the lifting flap hindged there with a counterbalancing weight so it would stay up and not come down on anyone. A simple catch by the door end could hold the couterweight. Someone coming in could open the door about halfway. Releasing the catch would allow the counter weight to fall a micro switch would cut off track power  as the flap lifted a small sprung or weighted flap which had been held down by the flap would spring up and block the exit track. A small mirror fixed above the hinged end would enable you to check the train was clear of the flap. 

When inside you would pull down the flap lifting the counterweight and the catch would re-engage.

 

Don

[Edwardian]

Herewith plan.

 

The extra 8" into the widow is the usable space, leaving a good 3 inches or so between the back of the board and the sashes.  

 

 

[Northroader]

Just to muddy the waters, one house I lived in I found space was limited by the door, so it was cut in half down the middle, and the two halves both hung on opposite doorposts, meeting in the middle. This would give you a bit more length, although possibly as you’re a tenant you might not want to do that?

[Nearholmer]

Yes, we had a dark and awkward hall outside the kitchen in a previous house, so I bought an eight-pane glazed door, choosing carefully to get one made from good hardwood and with a wide central vertical, then sawed it vertically and hung it on the two posts - instant light and space! 
 

This case seems particularly annoying, because the door is hinged the wrong way, but without changing that, what about this?

 

 

The point is to get the flap to have ends at right-angles to the axis of the track, if you can, otherwise it becomes harder to maintain perfect alignment, especially if the supporting bookcases etc can move very slightly relative to one another.

[Edwardian]

34 minutes ago, Northroader said:

Just to muddy the waters, one house I lived in I found space was limited by the door, so it was cut in half down the middle, and the two halves both hung on opposite doorposts, meeting in the middle. This would give you a bit more length, although possibly as you’re a tenant you might not want to do that?

 

Not especially, and I am quite content with the boards already there; the only ones shown in the plan.  The Lt Ry/industrial track will run end-to-end to the rear of the board and this could be extended into the corner at the door end of the room, or,even, sweep around the corner to meet it.

 

There are 3 lines:

 

- The 'mainline', a single-track OO gauge line laid to chaired bullhead (code 75 SMP).  This I want to make a circuit.

 

- An 009 line, which can run point to point but could possibly also be made to form a circuit

 

- What I think of as the Mineral Line - intended to represent any Light Railway or industrial line, which will run point to point along the rear of the board above my desk. It will represent vignoles spiked to sleepers (OO gauge code 75 FB on PCB)

 

13 minutes ago, Nearholmer said:

 

This case seems particularly annoying, because the door is hinged the wrong way, but without changing that, what about this?

 

 

The point is to get the flap to have ends at right-angles to the axis of the track, if you can, otherwise it becomes harder to maintain perfect alignment, especially if the supporting bookcases etc can move very slightly relative to one another.

 

Yes, that is the sort of arrangement we need.

 

EDIT:  Oh, before it's too late:

 

NORMAN YOKE! NORMAN YOKE!

 

From the Castle Aching reading list:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Edited May 22, 2020 by Edwardian
1066 AND ALL THAT

[Compound2632]

I have to say that the concept of being able to see the trains go round and round without having to go out to the she or garage is very appealing. Although trains can go round and round in my garage, I don't go in there nearly often enough and have been known to set up an oval of track on the dining room table, getting just as much satisfaction! I'm just not enough of a layout person, I suppose - I want instant gratification.

[Hroth]

1 hour ago, Edwardian said:

Herewith plan.

 

The extra 8" into the widow is the usable space, leaving a good 3 inches or so between the back of the board and the sashes.  

 

 

 

From guesstimation of two photos, 3' out in one dimension and 6" in t'other was pretty good going!  But you wouldn't want me to quote you on carpeting the room on that basis.... 

 

It looks like a nice arrangement for indoor fun on inclement evenings.

 

[Hroth]

And All That!!!

 

We got here so quickly.

[brack]

I wouldnt worry about getting the track at right angles or the width of the bridge. There are alternative solutions....

 

[Hroth]

7 minutes ago, brack said:

I wouldnt worry about getting the track at right angles or the width of the bridge. There are alternative solutions....

 

 

Its amazing what you can do with Hornby set track! 

 

Where is it?

Going by the size of the boat and the narrowness of the cut, I'd guess it was somewhere on the Shropshire tub-boat system.

 

 

[Northroader]

Norman Yoke: “I don’t see the point of that”

[Compound2632]

42 minutes ago, Hroth said:

Where is it?

 

 

There was a detailed analysis on another thread. Blowed if I can think of the keyword to use in a search, though.

 

Evidently Great Western and I think South Walian, if I'm not being bamboozled by the Tirpentwys wagon.

 

Handy view of the position of the reclining sheet bar and wagon side on that 4-plank wagon.  

Edited May 22, 2020 by Compound2632

[Nearholmer]

56 minutes ago, brack said:

wouldnt worry about getting the track at right angles or the width of the bridge. There are alternative solutions....

That is a work of (insane) genius.

 

Where was it?

[Hroth]

15 minutes ago, Compound2632 said:

 

There was a detailed analysis on another thread. Blowed if I can think of the keyword to use in a search, though.

 

Evidently Great Western and I think South Walian, if I'm not being bamboozled by the Tirpentwys wagon.

 

Handy view of the position of the reclining sheet bar and wagon side on that 4-plank wagon.  

 

I'm completely unfamiliar with the South Wales canals, mainly because they didn't connect to the main network (for quite obvious reasons!) and I've never visited the only one still working today (the Monmouthshire and Brecon canal).  Given their isolation, its quite probable that they aren't of standard gauge, so it's entirely possible that the photograph is of one of these canals.

 

 

I only thought of the Shropshire canals because they were similar, with only a vestigial connection to the Midland canal system and there was a strong Great Western connection around Coalbrookdale.

 

 

Edited May 22, 2020 by Hroth
spelin, spelin, spelin. Grrr...

[Northroader]

I think the picture is somewhere on the stretch of the Monmouthshire and Brecon south of Pontypool.

[Compound2632]

Found it!

 

@The Stationmaster gave the most complete identification:

 

[jwealleans]

Quote

That is a work of (insane) genius.

 

Where was it?

 

Undoubtedly on one of Brian Harrap's layouts.

[Nearholmer]

What are you trying to say about Mr H?

[jwealleans]

Insane genius.   It's there in black and white.

[Adam88]

I cannot recall seeing this type of bridge before but it does have the advantage of being operable from either side.  Also, if the deck had been wide enough for the skewed track then it would have been twice as heavy.  I was sure there would be wise words on the subject and my friend Google offers these attributed to Thor Heyerdahl: "Progress is man's ability to complicate simplicity".

[Hroth]

Its an "elegant" solution to the problem with the conventional liftbridge found eleswhere on the Mon&Brec and the Llangollen canals, that being the counterweight being between the lifting arms of the bridge, and yes, each side would be a little lighter than the whole deck; I know from experience that even the lightest, perhaps suitable for a tractor at most, is a pig to lift.  Of course the one on the road through Wrenbury is most satisfying as you can hold up a sometimes considerable amount of traffic while passing a couple of boats through it.  Of course, that one is hydraulically operated, you need a Sanitary Station key to access the mechanism...

 

28 minutes ago, Adam88 said:

I cannot recall seeing this type of bridge before but it does have the advantage of being operable from either side.

 

Not much of an advantage, as you have to lift both sides to pass a boat. However the balance weights don't obstruct the track, so unless that is a particular requirement for a lift bridge, then there's no need to go to the complication!

 

To operate:

• Lift one side and secure
• Cross over the half that is still down
• Lift the other side and secure
• Pass boat
• Lower the half you're at
• Cross over and lower the other half
• Cross back over and catch up with your boat!

A bit of a faff, but good exercise!

 

[Nearholmer]

I'm sure this is something of a reprise of a story that has been discussed here before, but in a Norolkian thread it surely needs to be marked by a bowing of heads https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-norfolk-52772491

 

On lifting/swinging canal bridges: there are a few on the Bord na Mona peat railways in Ireland, and they are normally left open for boats. I've never yet managed to see a train cross one, despite several attempts to be in the right place at the right time, so I don't know quite what the procedure is - they are all power operated, so I guess there is a control point on the "far" side.

 

Random thing observed during a walk, which I'm sure will interest PC members: immensely long wall around landed estate, with supporting pillars about every ten yards. What i'd never spotted before is that every second pillar is a cast-iron dummy! I've see pressed-iron fake brickwork applied over timber buildings, this being quite a common Georgian conceit in Sussex, but never this.

Edited May 22, 2020 by Nearholmer